Higher Acceptance of Videotelephonic Counseling Formats in Psychosomatic Medicine in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Jacqueline Lohmiller,Stephan Zipfel,Norbert Schäffeler,Andreas Stengel

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.747648

Abstract

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare system in general and psychosomatics in particular were forced to change counseling-specific services and break up established structures. At the beginning of 2020, phone as well as videotelephonic counseling options had to be quickly established.Methods: Patients (n = 278) of the department of psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy at the University Hospital Tübingen were asked to complete an ad hoc questionnaire to assess the acceptance of the counseling format following each counseling session (office, phone, video) in the period between July 2020 and February 2021.Results: Satisfaction and acceptance of the three counseling formats (office, phone, video) were rated (1–6) on average as “good” to “very good” in the three subgroups (1.5 ± 0.9). Likewise, the “therapeutic relationship” scored high in all three subgroups in terms of establishing a strong therapeutic relationship (4.4 ± 1.5). “Hurdles” were rated as low and tolerable (1.8 ± 1.3). The global assessment of therapeutic contact was significantly better in the video group compared to phone and office consultation (p < 0.05). Predictor analyses showed that there was an influence of age, but not gender, on the acceptance of digital counseling formats in the present sample [F(1, 277) = 4.50, p = 0.04].Discussion & Conclusion: Digital consultation formats were perceived by patients as promising addition to the classic face-to-face setting. Digital formats (phone, video) were not generally preferred to face-to-face counseling, but especially video counseling was accepted and perceived with great satisfaction and acceptance. Accordingly, the additional use of digital counseling formats, especially video-telephony, could be an opportunity to enrich the existing structures also after the pandemic.

Highlights

The COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges for the healthcare system in general and psychosomatics in particular [7]
The question arose whether digital counseling services were accepted compared to the traditional face-to-face office setting
In the context of this explorative study, an ad hoc questionnaire was used, which assessed the subject areas “patient characterization,” “assessment of therapeutic contact,” “therapeutic relationship,” and “hurdles.” Regarding the “therapeutic relationship” it was shown that all three counseling formats were perceived as very positive

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges for the healthcare system in general and psychosomatics in particular [7]. The pandemic imposed the compelling need to establish phone as well as video counseling systems to ensure consultation as well as continuity of care [9, 10]. The question arises whether and to what extent a therapeutic relationship can be established in the context of phone or video counseling. Numerous studies demonstrate effective therapeutic relationship building in the online setting [2, 15,16,17], but the question arises as to whether the hurdles of online-based procedures counteract the benefits of phone/videobased outpatient psychosomatic consultation. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare system in general and psychosomatics in particular were forced to change counseling-specific services and break up established structures. At the beginning of 2020, phone as well as videotelephonic counseling options had to be quickly established

Methods

Results

Conclusion